Tag: Commanders HC Ron Rivera

Commanders’ postgame quotes following loss to 49ers

Ron Rivera, Jonathan Allen, Terry McLaurin, Sam Howell, Brian Mitchell and others comment on Commanders’ loss to 49ers.

“Early on, it looked like we were going to make this game into a match. But as they game went on, you saw they clearly had too much for us. And I say it all the time, you can’t help a team beat you.” Brian Mitchell

“I thought the defense did a lot of good things today. But they’re a more talented roster, they’ve got playmakers at all spots, their defense played excellent and obviously Sam has been struggling a little bit.” Logan Paulsen

“Ultimately, I think he handled himself well coming into this game. But as that game went on, you saw the pressure of the 49ers was just too much. And your guy can’t go out there and get it done by himself.” Brian Mitchell

“Sam did some good things. But I think we are starting to see who he is as a player. Not to say that he can’t get better. But I think this is what our expectation for Sam should be the rest of this season.” Logan Paulsen

“Jacoby was still tight. So we had to be careful with it (hamstring). That was why we went with Sam.” Ron Rivera

“I thought Sam had some really good moments…the situation gave him an opportunity, and he performed, he really did. I thought he made some good decisions, threw some really good balls. Obviously, there were a couple of throws I promise he wished he had back, but he did a lot of good things.” Ron Rivera

“Obviously, an interesting week. Wasn’t expecting until two hours before the game to have to play today, but…..every single opportunity I get, I try to go out there and give it my all and make the most of it.”  Sam Howell

“Honestly, I couldn’t care less. I’m focused on what I’m doing to help this team. I’m going to go out there and play hard, enjoy it, play for the love of the game, and that’s what I did today.” Jonathan Allen on the uncertainty of who was going to play at quarterback

“I give credit to him because it hasn’t been an easy season for him. And obviously, he’s going to get a lot of the blame and things like that. I think we all have a hand in it — the coaches, players. It’s been tough, but the way he came out in the first half, it showed resiliency. You could see a smile on his face. That made me happy because it’s a tough game, especially at that position. So I think he handled it as best as he could.”  Terry McLaurin on Sam Howell

“It’s definitely tough. I mean, you want to be a part of something that is sustainable, and you’re winning and competing at a high level.”  Terry McLaurin

“When you’re going against teams like that, you got to play — not perfect, but you got to make the most of every opportunity. You got to give them credit for building that team and for the players going out there and executing. Hopefully, I can be a part of something like that, but I’m just focused on myself, my world, and my journey, and I’m going to keep working to be the best player I can be.”  Terry McLaurin

Commanders’ Rivera a big help to owner Josh Harris

Ron Rivera made life a bit easier on Josh Harris last week.

In the last week Commanders head coach Ron Rivera has certainly made new owner Josh Harris’ job easier.

Washington lost 31-19 at home last week to the anemic N.Y. Giants. Then turned around on Thursday and looked even worse (much worse) at Dallas, being embarrassed 45-10 on national television.

What was Harris to do? How was Harris to respond Friday?

Enter head coach Ron Rivera.

Rivera reportedly contacted Harris with his plan Friday morning and Harris gave the nod to Rivera to proceed with his plan. Gone are defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmayer.

As a result, Harris did not have to fire two coaches with five games remaining. Even more, instead of the constant speculation of when and what Harris was going to do, asserting his authority over the mess. The speculation is now removed; Harris can wait another five games and begin cleaning house.

I hate to say it, but the Cowboys also revealed that they had no respect for the Commanders going into last week’s debacle. I mean, Dak Prescott even went to head coach Mike McCarthy asking if he could eat turkey on the sideline during the game.

What’s more, Jerry Jones and McCarthy went along with it. No respect! They view Washington as a clown show. So, with the game easily in hand, there was Prescott on the sideline eating his turkey. It certainly helps Harris discern how the Commanders’ team is viewed around the league.

Speaking of no respect, which players has Harris himself, already determined must go? The linebackers can be seen weekly, chasing after receivers with the ball in their hands.

Benjamin St-Juste and Emmanuel Forbes sure get picked on by other teams don’t they? Imagine what Rivera will attempt to scheme for Miami when the 8-3 Dolphins come to town Sunday?

Tua Tagovailoa has completed 69.8% of his passes in 2023. He has passed for 22 touchdown passes, along with ten interceptions. Rivera will need something to impact the Dolphins passing game. Tua’s passer rating is 103.7, and his QBR is 59.5.

Rivera will have his hands full with the Dolphins offense, and perhaps he will be focused on having to develop the defensive game plan himself.

Will Rivera still insist on telling us this week about the “growth and development” of his young guys?

Postgame quotes following Commanders’ inexcusable loss to Giants

Brian Mitchell preaches for everyone to have patience with Sam Howell. BMitch believes Howell has what it takes to be a franchise QB.

Another ugly, embarrassing, inexcusable loss to the Giants, so what were some saying during the postgame interviews and postgame show?

“Sam Howell has the potential to be a d— good quarterback in this league. He can be a franchise quarterback. But everybody out there, pump your d— breaks and allow him to get to that point. We can’t look at only one game and already put him up there. Let the man grow. He is a young guy who has to learn. Peyton Manning had games like this early on.” Brian Mitchell

“Any offensive coach, any offensive player will tell you, you can not turn the football over that many times and reasonably expect to win a football game.” Logan Paulsen

“He’s (Sam Howell) learning, he’s growing. He made some mistakes, but he hung in there, he fought and gave us a chance to win the football game.”  Ron Rivera

“When you turn the ball over that many times, you are not going to win games. It starts with me. I have to do a better job of taking care of the football. I didn’t give my team a chance to win today.” Sam Howell

“It is a low point, that’s for sure,” Rivera said. “Any time you’ve got an opportunity to win a football game and you put the numbers up that you did, you got to come through.”     Ron Rivera

“No matter what my answer is, it’s going to come out and people are going to say it’s an excuse. So we’re just going to take the responsibility. We’re going to show up tomorrow, we’re going to get prepared, and we’re going to get ready to play Dallas, because we got a very short week.”  Ron Rivera

“I think the most frustrating part is that I think we have a really good football team. We have so much potential in that locker room. That’s the disappointing thing, is that we’re not we’re not getting the results that we feel like we were definitely capable of.” Sam Howell

“I am not the type to point the fingers, but at the same time, each guy has to figure out how he can affect this team in a positive way to help us win. If you are not, then this is probably not the place for you. At the same time, I am going to continue to work and be ready for my opportunity. I just try to stay ready and be positive, and try to be part of the solution.”  Terry McLaurin

“It’s kind of been the theme of the season — we’ll play really good, and then we’ll have four- or five-minute lapses in a game that allow for big plays in the game. Until we clean that up, we’ll never be the defense that we can be.” Jonathan Allen

“I would say learning how to win; when you look at teams around the league who are consistently successful, they know how to win different types of games. In order to win ugly, in order to win offensive and defensive games, special teams. And so for us, we just have to learn how to win in different ways.” Jonathan Allen

Commanders postgame quotes after close win over Patriots

Players, coaches and analysts speak after the Commanders’ win over the Patriots.

Here are some of the postgame quotes after the Washington Commanders defeated the New England Patriots 20-17 on Sunday.

“Coming up here and playing with that kind of tenacity, intensity, having that fight we saw, a lot of that was displayed today. I would like to see Mac Jones on the ground a little more…that one roughing the passer was the only sack we would’ve had, but for the most part, the team played well.”  Santana Moss

“I think Sam (Howell) and Eric (Bieniemy) outwitted Bill Belichick today. We ran the ball effectively and stuck to it.” Brian Mitchell

“I did not know we had to play the referees again, with the dumbest call in the history of football…this whole game, as good as it was played, the ups and downs, that play right there makes me look and say, ‘Everybody on that referee crew (you cannot fine me), you should not be calling the game because that call was the dumbest call I have ever seen in my life.” Brian Mitchell on the roughing the passer penalty

“Sam Howell is our future. He’s our quarterback. I feel like we found our quarterback for the next 5-10 years, and I truly believe that. When I look at the plays he makes on the field, and not only does he make great plays on the field, but his demeanor after bad plays and not playing well. He is always able to bounce back.” Jonathan Allen on Sam Howell

“I’ve seen a lot of great quarterbacks in my time, played against a lot of them and feel he has the potential to be one of them. I can truly say this team is behind Sam Howell one hundred percent.”  Jonathan Allen on Sam Howell

“Coach Rivera had the team ready to play, and Coach Eric Bieniemy called an excellent game! He was creative on offense and switched between runs and passes.”  Earvin “Magic” Johnson

“Well, with the exception of the interception he had in the first half, I believe he played the type of game we believe he is capable of. He made really good decisions and did some smart things. But there are some things he is going to want to have back once he has a chance to look at the tape and evaluate it.” Ron Rivera on Sam Howell

“We need to put those guys in position to have the success we can have. We are still growing and developing with the guy and he did a great job and led us to the victory.” Ron Rivera on young players and Sam Howell in particular

“It feels good to win, especially after we have lost some tough ones the last few weeks. I think the defense stepped up a lot, stopping their offense, giving us a short field. Tress (Way) did a good job pinning them down there. I feel like every time we looked down there, they were inside their 15, which is great for field position. It seems small, but it really makes a difference.” Terry McLaurin

When we get into the red zone, we have to score touchdowns. So as we progress, we have to continue to build on what we did well, but also figure out how we can be better in those critical areas.” Terry McLaurin

“I want to be the quarterback here for a really long time…How I’m going to get to that point is taking it one day at a time and doing everything that I can on a day-to-day basis. And that’s kinda the way I look at it.” Sam Howell on the talk if he is or isn’t the long-term answer at quarterback

“I never worry about the future. I take it one day at a time, and I try to give every day, every single thing I got. I give my teammates, I give the organization every single thing that I have every single day. That’s what I do and I’ll continue to try to do.”  Sam Howell

Will Commanders trade for Bill Belichick?

But a source close to Josh Harris said this is “simply not true.”

“I caught wind over the weekend of some chatter in league circles with this notion that when the season ends, the Commanders will trade with the Patriots to get Bill Belichick.”

That’s how Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio introduced the rumor that the Commanders will pursue New England head coach Bill Belichick.

Florio continued, saying he was told, “Everyone is out. Jason Wright, team president; Martin Mayhew, general manager; Ron Rivera, head coach; all out.”

The PFT host conveyed that Monday’s trades of Montez Sweat and Chase Young also point to new owner Josh Harris cleaning house and getting his own people in there.

It’s important to remember that Belichick still has multiple years remaining on his contract. Indeed, if Washington were to pursue Belichick, it would cost them, and perhaps cost them dearly.

WJLA-TV sports anchor Scott Abraham said he too reached out and was told the rumor is simply not true.

But back to Florio: He said that once the season is over, Patriots owner Robert Kraft will simply sit back, not firing Belichick but waiting for Harris to make the first move.

Once Kraft and Harris would work out the compensation, then Harris would be free to contact Belichick and discuss the concept with Belichick and work out a deal.

Florio went even further, suggesting someone other than Harris would contact Belichick’s agent, and the two would be informally discussing the possibility if the other party were interested.

As to the origin of the story, Florio thought it was from the Belichick camp, getting the story out there so the league teams know that Belichick is going to be available for the right price after this season.

Would Harris pursue Belichick?

Or would Harris prefer someone younger, likely one of the more respected coordinators who desires to be head coach?

Postgame quotes after Commanders perplexing loss to Eagles

Some postgame quotes from several Washington players after Sunday’s loss to the Eagles.

This Commanders’ loss to the Eagles was perplexing as the offense produced, but the defense could not get to a visibly hobbled Jalen Hurts.

What was the reaction in the locker room and the postgame shows?

“When you look at a game: Your kicker kicks a 61-yard field goal. You score 31 points. And you lose? That is one you don’t understand.” Brian Mitchell

“Ultimately, when you look at the game, it is not a matter of we didn’t run or pass enough. No, we didn’t make the plays.” Brian Mitchell

“They moved some pieces along the offensive line. I thought Tyler Larsen did an excellent job calling protections- no free runners to the quarterback. I thought Sam also helped that group, getting the ball out of his hand quickly…and I think EB called a fantastic football game today. So I think there are positive things.” Logan Paulsen

“They told me New York decided it was an incompletion.” Ron Rivera on the Jahan Dotson 4th down incompletion

“Because I didn’t see it on the screen. I was looking up at the screen to see if there was something that could help me and then I was waiting to hear something from somebody upstairs (did you see it or not?). We haven’t seen the replay yet. So we weren’t sure. They did their hurry up, ran to the line and snapped the ball…I still don’t know if it was or wasn’t complete.” Ron Rivera on not challenging the Eagles 4th down completion for a first down that was actually incomplete.

“I’m not going to answer any questions on personnel.” Ron Rivera declining to talk trade deadline

“I mean, it’s in the air, but in the end, we have a game to play, a job to do. I intend on doing that job to the best of my ability.”  Montez Sweat on current trade talks

“Anything can happen, but I can only control what I can.” Montez Sweat conveyed that his agent is keeping him informed

“My job is to play football, and that is what I am going to continue to do. It’s tough. I don’t have nothing to say; it’s tough.” Chase Young on close loss

“It’s out of my control. I’m going to go back and evaluate myself, see where I made mistakes and hold myself accountable.” Chase Young on if he or Montez Sweat played their last game together.

“We’re right there. But at the end of the day we let another one slip away from us.” Sam Howell on another tough loss

“I told him (Terry McLaurin) that I have to give him a better chance. … I’ve got to make his job easier. Terry’s a great player, and I have to do my part.”  Sam Howell on those two late drops by Terry McLaurin

Commanders postgame quotes after win over Falcons

Commanders players, coaches and former players weigh in on Sunday’s win.

The Commanders broke their three-game losing streak today in Atlanta with a 24-16 victory over the Falcons.

Here are some post-game quotes:

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Charles Leno and his family. It’s super tough to hear when something like that happened to one of our teammates, one of our brothers. We are all behind him, supporting he and his family…we definitely miss Leno today and hope to get him back out there soon. But at the end of the day, there are a lot of things a lot bigger than the game of football. We know God will be with his family and strengthen him through this time, and we will do the same.” Sam Howell

“I want to thank all of the Washington Commanders fans for coming out because they helped will us to victory! We had more fans in Mercedes Benz Stadium than the Falcons!”  Earvin “Magic” Johnson

“It’s probably an opportunity for him (Emmanuel Forbes) to get a little reset. I kind of want to see how things happen, see how things go. Hopefully, it’s something that he’ll learn from, he’ll take as a positive and grow from it.” Ron Rivera on Forbes not playing today

“Congratulations to my Commanders on today’s 24-16 win vs. the Falcons! Defense came up big twice in today’s win with two interceptions in the last 5 minutes, one by St. Juste and one by Davis. Coach Rivera really had the team ready to play!”  Earvin “Magic” Johnson

“He was in his leverage position where he needed to be… those are the things he’s capable of.” Ron Rivera on the Jamin Davis INT

“We protected the football, and we took the football away.” Ron Rivera

“I think there were some real good things Sam (Howell) did early on. Again, he has to continue to work to get the ball out on time. He can’t set himself up to take those sacks sometimes.”

“A lot of guys have to understand; you get up on a team, it’s a human tendency to think, ‘We got them now’. You got to keep pushing all of the way until the end. If you don’t push until the end, this game can get a little tighter. It shouldn’t have been that tight.” Brian Mitchell

“That’s not good enough (Washington 18 plays, Atlanta 45) in the second half. The only reason you come out with a victory in this situation is Desmond Ridder gave you the ball three times. So, offensively you say, ‘there are some things we have to be better at.'” Logan Paulsen

“Can we be more aggressive? Can we sustain drives? Can we chew some clock, protect this lead some more? Everyone thinks protecting a lead is a defensive statistic. I am a guy that says, ‘offense all day’. You can either hold the ball, score points, extend the lead and we can make sure their offense doesn’t get the ball back.” Logan Paulsen

“Every good defense has to have depth; you are going to have injuries during the season. Casey (Toohill), James Smith-Williams, all of those guys, they work hard all throughout the week. It’s good to see that show on the field for them.” Kendall Fuller

“There are some things we still need to work on and improve, some of the details. We weren’t as good as we needed to be. We did our job, but we need to pay more attention to details because we almost got ourselves into trouble.” Ron Rivera

Has the NFL passed by Commanders DC Jack Del Rio?

How much blame should go on Del Rio? How much on the players? Regardless, they all need to be better.

I’m sure you’ve noticed many on Twitter and D.C. radio shows this week wanting Jack Del Rio fired.

In the Commanders’ last game, the Bears (0-4) put up 40 points on the Commanders.

The Commanders allowed five passing plays of 20 or more yards. On the game’s first offensive possession, Justin Fields found D.J. Moore for 58 yards.

Commanders’ corner Benjamin St-Juste confessed, “I’m [mad] about that. That’s on me. … Should’ve just did my job instead of looking for a play when it wasn’t there.”

Fans and even some radio hosts in unison claim the game has passed by Del Rio. It’s as if he only understands the defenses of his playing days (1985-95). Do they know he’s been coaching in the NFL since 1997?

Many portray Del Rio as a blockhead, numbskull, and imbecile.

How quickly critics forget that just last season (2022) the Commanders defense played the key down in the NFL not only quite well, but actually the very best, getting off of the field on third down.

Following Thursday’s game, one Bears player actually called out the Commanders defensive backfield, saying, “They either weren’t aware or they were just being lazy about making the shift, and that led to some really open plays for us.”

Commanders rookie corner Emmanuel Forbes jumped two routes, and whiffed on the tackles, giving the Bears big plays. Forbes thinks he is going to simply make big interceptions. He must show more respect for those who have earned their dues in this league.

This week, the cries have been abundant, “Fire, Jack Del Rio.”  Why do fans do this? You’re not going to like the answer, but the truth is, it is simpler. Fans love the players, so the simplistic, knee-jerk response is to fire the defensive coordinator.

Chase Young, on the Bears game, volunteered, “It’s nothing on Del Rio. He made good calls today. It’s on us as players. [We’ve] just got to start faster and hold each other accountable.”

Yet the fans get on Twitter and radio talk shows expressing that JDR doesn’t blitz enough, doesn’t know defense, and doesn’t know how to put the players in the best position to win.

Oh, stop! We all love the team. But to suggest publicly you know more than Jack Del Rio is actually embarrassing for you, revealing just how arrogant, misguided, and full of yourselves you are.

Not one single time do you have to make a decision about these defensive players where you will have to give an account. Not one time. Yet, every single defensive play call by Del Rio is dependent on his players executing it. Every single one.

Sure, the coaching staff might be fired at the conclusion of the season. But Jim Mora was also absolutely correct, we don’t know, and we never will.

Why was Commanders loss to Bears so disheartening for fan base?

Is the honeymoon already over? Fans were let down once again.

Thursday’s 40-20 loss to the Bears was one of the more disappointing losses in recent Washington football history.

Why is this the case? Most likely it is because our hopes had been raised by multiple factors. What are those factors?

Sam Howell played well enough in his only 2022 game that we foresaw development this season and improvement at the quarterback position.

Ron Rivera, in the offseason, repeatedly told of how Emmanuel Forbes and Quan Martin were going to be helping this year’s team create turnovers, which was lacking on the 2022 defensive unit.

Eric Bieniemy was brought in to replace Scott Turner as offensive coordinator. Bieniemy was being presented as an instant, huge improvement over Turner, who could also help in the development of Howell.

Jahan Dotson flashed some really great pass-catching and route-running skills in his rookie season. Dotson would only improve in his second season, causing the offense to have a dynamic duo of wideouts in Dotson and Terry McLaurin.

2022 guards Trai Turner and Andrew Norwell very much underachieved in 2022. So much so that neither was invited back for this season. Sam Cosmi and Saahdiq Charles were said to be very much more athletic, mobile and would bring improvement to the interior of the offensive line as well as mobility in the screen game that terribly struggled in 2022.

Cole Holcomb departed via free agency, but oh, how the Commanders’ brass was happy with the signing of Cody Barton to start for Holcomb at linebacker.

Former owner Daniel Snyder sold the team officially in July. In addition, the new ownership group could not have launched their endeavor any better than they did that first weekend. Josh Harris, Mitch Rales and Mark Ein are local. They spoke of loving the Redskins. They proclaimed with energy they wanted to regain the glory days of the Redskins being one of the most successful franchises during the George Allen (1971-77) and Joe Gibbs (1981-92) seasons. And Earvin “Magic” Johnson would also help, having been such a competitor and team player himself in the NBA. 

Instantly, attendance at training camp soared. Excitement at the home preseason games was swelling. The team began the season with two opening wins. The home schedule saw three sellouts; fans were returning, spending their money because our hopes were rising.

We understood losing to Buffalo and Philadelphia; after all, both of those teams are Super Bowl contenders. So, much of the talk Monday through Wednesday was about how the Commanders were going to win this “must-win” over the Bears. There was even much talk of “by how much” would the Commanders need to win to satisfy the fan base.

Suddenly, the Commanders trailed 17-0. Disappointment became confusion, which led to consternation, anxiety and dread. Then it was 27-3 at the half, and most of us were frustrated, angry, infuriated.

Our hopes had been raised so much, only for the team to again completely dash them. Our emotional balloons had been burst.

Adversity has set in; the honeymoon period is coming to a close. We again hope, hope for a recovery to respectability.

 

Commanders stink it up vs Bears, lose 40-20

Lots of ugly truths here.

The Washington Commanders are the dumpster fire, not the Bears.

Al Michaels mentioned during the 4th quarter of the television broadcast that the 0-4 Bears had been called a dumpster fire.

But the Bears set the tone in EVERY phase early and defeated the Commanders 40-20, Thursday night at FedEx Field.

They tackled better, blocked better, ran the ball down the Commanders’ throats, and had receivers so open that Washington’s pass defense had frankly never looked worse.

It was frustrating, then infuriating.

In the first quarter, the Bears totaled 199 yards, while the Commanders generated only 12 yards.

If that is not bad enough, the Bears were putting the whooping on the Commanders defense to the tune of 10.0 yards per play!

The Commanders defense did nothing to get off of the field, so the Bears enjoyed 10:21 time of possession in the quarter while the Commanders only kept the ball for 4:39.

The Bears earned 58 rushing yards in their seven carries, while the Commanders mustered a mere 8 yards on 4 carries.

The second quarter, in some ways, was even worse. The Bears ended the half with a 27-3 lead, 14 to 5 first downs, 307 yards to 84, 122  rushing yards to 13, and they averaged 6.8 yards each rushing attempt to 1.9 by the Commanders.

Unlike the first half, Commanders decided to compete in the second half. They took the second-half kickoff 75 yards in five plays. Then drove 70 yards for a field goal, and suddenly, the Bears lead was 27-14.

Following a Bears field goal, the Commanders again traveled 75 yards to narrow the deficit to 30-20. But that was as close as they would come.

The winless Bears had accumulated only two sacks, but tonight, they managed five. Sam Howell has now been sacked 29 times in five games.

Thursday night was embarrassing for the players and for the coaches. The team was not ready to compete at the beginning of the game.

Did they provide any evidence they are any better than any other Ron Rivera team here in the previous three seasons?

No, they did not.